Safe No More
by TheDarkestTimeline
Summary: Growing up under the weight of someone else's expectations or even title, can be a quite difficult thing. Growing up hearing of the legacies and the world of humans . . . and not only that, but everything their brothers have done . . . it caught up to them. The Hamato brothers saved the world. They have purpose. "So what about us? Are we gonna stay here our whole lives? I'm not."
1. Introduction

**|Full Summary|**

Growing up under the weight of someone else's expectations, or title, even, can be a quite difficult thing.

Growing up hearing of the legacies and the world of humans . . . and not only that, but everything their brothers have done . . . it caught up to them.

The Hamato brothers saved the world. _They_ have _purpose._

"So what about us? Are we just . . . gonna stay in this stupid sewer all our lives? Let's go up. I know you're curious too." Dark, calculating eyes studied those of mischievous intent.

"Because I'm going whether you come or not."

And all those years later, even the famous 'Ninja Turtles' still hadn't defeated their old ties.

They find it out the hard way.

* * *

**Safe No More.**

Prologue:  
Leonardo animatedly pointed his katana at a white van, stocked full of mutagen containers.

"We have to get hold of that van!" He announced, moving in a fluid fashion around the robotic form in front of him and taking it out with a simple slash at the neck.

"How do they even _get_ all this stuff?" Raphael demanded with a haughty sigh, kicking his opponent in the upper torso, a following troop toppling over right behind him.

"They _invented_ it, Raphael. Use your head, would you?" Donnie whacked a droid over the head with his staff, sending a look towards his red-banded brother that could only be called 'grouchy'.

"Oh, yeah? Say that to my face, D-"

"Can we do this later?" Mikey protested, his voice growing higher in pitch, as he faced the oncoming fleet and as Leo broke the lock on the back of the van with the hilt of his sword.

Michelangelo tucked and rolled under the heavy legs of the growing Kraang army, and stumbled forward to be caught with a firm grip on his arm (Raphael).

"Uh, what exactly is our plan here, Boss?" Mikey asked, backing up cautiously to fall in line with Leonardo.

Raph and Donnie followed his lead, weapons at hand and ready for order, and all that was needed to ask orders was a glance toward the eldest.

"Get in the van!"

"What? No candy?" Mikey joked, earning a look from his Leo and a quiet chuckle from Raph.

"Just go!" Leo's exasperated tone drove the other three into action. Each scattered towards the van without delay.

Mikey went over the hood of the car, latching onto the roof; Donatello flew into the driver's seat (an uneasy expression plastered on his face), Raphael slid into passenger, and Leo latched onto the side, using the open door as a handle.

In seconds, it was apparent how little practice Donatello had at controlling a vehicle.

"THIS IS WHY DONNIE DOESN'T DRIVE!" Mikey screamed at Donnie's first turn, which nearly blew Michelangelo off the side.

Mikey dug his the blades of his kusarigama into the roof, barely succeeding at obtaining a notable grasp. He was a slip away from flying off the roof of a speeding car.

"Hold on tight!" Leonardo commanded, wracking his brain for any sort of legible idea.

Donnie pulled the car into a side alley with an unhealthy 'screech' of tires, and brought them out on a different street with the Kraang not far behind.

Every turn loosened Mikey's grip.

"Gah!" That shriek brought Leonardo back to his senses easily, and his narrowed eyes rested on his youngest brother.

"Quick! Get in the back!" The command surprised Mikey and even in the predicament that he was in himself, he had next to no desire to be placed in the truck of an unruly van with vile upon vile of mutagen.

"With the mutagen?! Donnie's driving! What if-?"

"NO WHAT-IFS RIGHT NOW." Raph growled from inside the van.

Michelangelo took a breath, and edged down the side, using the blade for accuracy.

The back of the van blew open as soon as he touched the handle and the packages inside shifted from the wicked turns that Donatello was wielding.

"AH!" A single vial sprang at him, not shattering, but knocking Mikey off the speeding van and into the front window of a beat up shop on the corner of the street.

Donnie slammed on the brakes and all rocketed out of the car with weapons ready to defend the additions to their mutagen collection.

"Way to go, Donnie!" Raph hissed as they ran to the shattered window, avoiding the shrapnel, and peering in, missing the 'Daisy's Pet Store' sign above the front door.

Mikey groaned and pulled himself up off the tiled floor, being careful to brush the glass pieces off of him and avoid whatever was left on the floor.

"I'm okay, Don, thanks for asking." He shot a glare to the tallest, who wore a similar expression.

The mutagen vial had flown out of his hands and backward into a small aquarium. Or, what remained of the aquarium.

Two young, mutagen covered turtles regarded the four brothers before something odd happened.

Their limbs grew longer, their bodies became upright, and watching it stunned the four brothers.

'_This was us sixteen years ago. . .'_

The two newly mutated turtles seemed to become more self aware, their eyes growing wide with confusion and they looked at the four for some sort of communication.

"Leo. . . . LEO!" Donatello's glare quickly melted into pure panic.

The mutant with bright blue eyes stared at Donatello's finger pointed at his counterpart, and in turn shoved her off the stand, then looked back to the group for approval. Leo was at a loss for words.

"Oh. . . no."

* * *

**A/N: I left this the way it was because of ties I have with Mikaracat in 'And Into My Fire, You Shall Fall'.**

**Not the best writing I've done, considering I was something like thirteen when it was published, but I certainly have better plans for this story. Patience will be necessary to tolerate my DEFINITELY 'going-to-be-late' updates, but bare with me, friends.**

**This is a journey I want to talk nice and slow.**


	2. Routine

** |Nine Years Following|**

|1|

_Nine years. That was quite a number for the entire Hamato family, as well as O'Neil and Jones._

_From the day they had brought home the pair of newly mutated youth in a confused and emotional daze to now had seemed like perhaps only months, but they knew better._

_They should've, anyway._

_Their siblings, their 'kids', they were fourteen. Teenagers. Old enough to perhaps be in high school, should they have been human._

_Only about a year away from being allowed onto the surface._

_In their eyes, the four brothers, the human companions, even the Master, they were but children._

_Just as they had been when they were found by the four brothers._

_Perhaps around five or six years old, only pipsqueaks, squirts, kiddos._

_There wasn't a thing in the world that could change that, not a thing._

Lazuli trudged down the cool, concrete stairs, his still sleep-ridden mind moving at a turtle's pace (pun intended, although frowned upon).

He barely processed the very hour he woke up, and even as he sank into one of the bar stools at the counter, he wasn't truly awake.

Resting his head against the smooth surface, he processed all he could about the room without sight as a sense.

It was warm, at least, and loud. Sounds consisted of the quiet morning chatter between his older siblings, and the loud sizzling of whatever was frying in the monster sized pan rested over the stove.

"Morning, Zuli." The simple greeting from Leonardo earned a simple grunt in acknowledgment.

_"Leo. . . What do we do?"_

_Leonardo opened his mouth, but no words came out. He stood frozen in his spot, just staring at the pair of mutated youth with eyes wide. 'This was us. . . THIS WAS US!'_

_The only thing that snapped him out of his odd trace was the sound of laser fire from further down the street._

_"Take them and move! We can't outrun the Kraang like this. . ." He murmured, moving away from the broken in window._

_"Don, Mike, Raph, take the kids and get out of here. I'm gonna see what I can do about this." With that, he jetted back to the van and hopped in, speeding away before any of the three could protest._

"Someone's chipper this morning." Raphael quipped, taking a seat beside him with a mug of coffee in one hand.

_Raphael growled in annoyance._

_"Dammit. . ." He ran a hand over his face to calm his rising temper._

_'Count to ten.'_

_He glanced up again at Donatello and Michelangelo before moving to check every door in the place._

_"Look for somewhere we can seek out or- or something!" He commanded and with short nods, his two remaining brothers joined in._

"I'd doubt that he even knows what language you're speaking, Raph." Donatello didn't look up from his paper, just reached from where he was sitting to poke the yellow masked mutant's cheek.

_The high pitched whine from the turtle still on the stand caught Donatello's attention._

_Big blue eyes locked with his brown orbs and another scared whimper pushed past the little one's lips._

_"Don, take care of him!" Raph hissed, trying his hardest to work at the lock of what was presumably the supply room._

_"I can't! I don't know ho-" Donnie started, only to be cut off my Michelangelo placing a hand on the taller one's mouth._

"Hey, Zu! I know what would wake you right up!" Mikey advertised, sliding a plate of steaming food in front of him.

"Your big bro's famous 'Eggs ala plate'!"

_"I got this, D." Michelangelo said, moving forward to the blue eyed youth carefully._

_"Hey, man! You don't need to be scared." He said in a low, soothing tone, wearing his most friendly smile._

_"We're gonna protect you now, so don't cry." He offered a hand to the youth, who stared at it for a moment before putting his own on top of it anxiously._

_The other one, a female by the looks of it, stood on unstable legs from where she still hadn't risen after being pushed and looked at her own hands._

_Tiny shards of glass from the shattered tank seemed to be stuck there and she showed them to Mikey, who looked to Donatello._

_"Oh, dear." Donnie murmured, moving slowly and timidly towards the doe eyed youth._

_He crouched down in front of her, taking hold of her hands testily._

_She didn't flinch, only watched his face as he examined her wounds._

_"We'll have to take care of these at home. . ." He muttered to Mikey, who simply gestured to the female who watched on inquisitively._

_"Tell her that."_

_Donatello gulped, then turned and locked his gaze on her eyes, as was polite._

_"We'll have to fix this at home. . . okay?" He offered his most friendly tone._

_"Mike, she might not even speak or understand us. . ."_

_"That's a gamble we have to take."_

_Raphael grunted loudly, finally prevailing in knocking the door in._

_"Alright, let's move! Out the back and down into the sewers!"_

_Mikey carefully picked up the blue eyed one under the arms and hoisted him on his back._

_"I don't know if you're familiar with the piggy back, but you'll like it." Michelangelo assured him._

_Donatello looked back to the girl, who just watched him for a moment._

_"Today, Don!" Raph hissed, bolting out the door after Michelangelo._

_Much to Donatello's surprise, the little one held her arms out to him as if she was saying 'pick me up'._

_He did so, carefully, before bolting out the door behind the other three._

"Where's Obsidian?" Lazuli mumbled, letting his arms drop to his sides limply.

"Where do you think?" Raphael glanced up from the comic section of his newspaper.

"Obsidian is in the dojo." All eyes turned on Hamato Splinter's tall figure standing in the doorway. His expression remained neutral, but his tone betrayed his tired state of mind.

Amber colored eyes scanned the room, landing on each son respectively before he moved to sit beside Donatello.

_It was easily one in the morning when all four mutant brothers reunited. Leonardo had caught up with them somewhere in the neutral section of the sewers and it was utterly silent all the way home other then the recurring whimpers from the blue eyed mutant._

_The other mutated youth simply hung onto Donatello's neck , never moving. She stayed quiet and still._

As though on cue, Obsidian slid into the room, no sound whatsoever leaving her own mind.

It was like someone had pressed a mute button on her entire body and whatever she touched, so when she did speak, she had the attention of the room.

"Leonardo, if the tea still brewing?" She asked, golden brown orbs settling on her eldest brother.

"Sure is. Help yourself." He gestured to the teapot beside the stove.

"Hey, Sid! Want anything to eat?" Michelangelo hopped up from the seat he had taken and moved to block Obsidian off from the pot of tea.

Although she remained completely monotone in voice, her face flickered amusement.

"I'll make myself toast." She told him, only earning a disappointed sigh from the orange banded ninja.

He clicked his tongue and shook his head with a slow smile spreading across his face.

"No, no, Obsidian, that's not how it works. It's my turn to cook breakfast, I will not have you do my job for me." Mikey quickly whipped out two pieces of bread from the cupboard and slid them in the toaster.

"This in no way makes up for the bathroom incident, if that's what you're hinting at." Obsidian said, blank expression earning a round of chuckles from her brothers as they recalled it. Shaving cream, soap, bleach, it had been a mess.

"I don't think anything can make up for that, Mike." Raphael rolled up the newspaper he was holding and hit his younger sibling over the head, all in good nature.

Master Splinter smiled at his children.

They were growing into great people, great artists. His hand had helped mold each and every one of them into the people they were today.

His only missing family was the two humans. . .

Determined, good-natured April O'Neil, working as an intern at Channel Six News Station and reckless but loveable and loyal Casey Jones, who did who knows what in the day hours and was known as a nighttime vigilante otherwise.

_Master Splinter emerged from his office, Leonardo trailing behind him and his gaze locked on the other three brother along with the two youth._

_Dark eyes moved from one child to the other and after a moment, he knelt in front of the pair._

_"Children, you are safe here." He told them simply, holding how a hand to both._

_The blue eyed one smiled happily, and took Splinter's hand in both of his, as he stood in front of the robed mutant._

_The one smaller in stature glanced between her supposed 'sibling' and Splinter before doing the same._

All his children, all his family; he loved them dearly.

Life without them would be meaningless, but everything was perfect now and would be as long as he had them.

Nothing could change now. . . If only he could seal this time in place and live it forever, he would.

If he had, maybe things wouldn't have turned out like they did. . .

* * *

**A/N:**

**Good Lord, that took forever! Sorry about for anyone who read it when it was. . . ahh, confusing.**


End file.
